o the Government road-maker and
surveyor who follow after. He toils and labours, suffers, and does heroic
deeds, all unknown except to the few. He digs soaks and wells many feet in
depth, makes little dams in creeks, protects open water from contamination
by animals, and scores of other services, primarily for his own benefit,
it is true, but also for the use of those who come after. Very few
recognise the immense value of the work carried out by prospectors who are
not actuated only by the greed for gold, as I, who know them, can assert.
Some wish to satisfy a longing to determine the nature of new country,
to penetrate where others have never been; others work for love of
adventure and of the free bush life; while many are anxious to win what
distinction may fall to the lot of successful travellers, though reward
or distinction are seldom accorded to prospectors. But beyond all this,
there is the glorious feeling of independence which attracts a prospector.
Everything he has is his own, and he has everything that IS his own with
him; he is doing the honest work of a man who wins every penny he may
possess by the toil of his body and the sweat of his brow. He calls no man
master, professes no religion, though he believes in God, as he cannot
fail to do, who has taken the chances of death in the uphill battle of
life "outside the tracks," though he would perhaps be annoyed if you told
him so; and it is only by intimate acquaintance with him that you can know
that his God is the same as other men's, though called by another name.
For the rest, he lives an honourable life, does many acts of kindness to
those in need, never leaves his mate in the lurch, and goes "straight" to
the best of his ability. For him, indeed,

"Two things stand like stone:
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in his own."

As to his work, the results remain, even though he keeps no record. Should
he find good country or gold, the land is soon occupied--sooner than if
some officially recognised expedition had reported it. For in the one case
the man is known and trusted by his fellow-prospectors, while in the other
there is not only the bushman's dislike of anything official to be
overcome, but the curious conviction, which most of them possess, that any
one in the position of a geologist, or other scientific calling, must
necessarily be an ass! In the same way, if the country met with is
useless, the fact soon becomes known amongst t